Generally, a pipeline system provides a continuous pipe conduit that includes a variety of components and equipment, e.g., valves, compressor stations, communications systems, and meters. A pipeline may be used to transport liquid or gaseous materials from one point to another, usually from one point (or points) of production or processing to another, or to points of use. That is, from a producer of product delivered through the pipeline to customers. For example, an air separation unit may be used to separate atmospheric air into gaseous components (e.g., oxygen gas (O2), nitrogen gas (N2), Argon gas (Ar), etc.) delivered to a variety of customers at downstream points along a pipeline. Similarly, hydrogen gas (H2) may be generated using a steam-methane reformer or other reformation processes. At compressor stations, compressors maintain the pressure of the material in the pipeline as it is transported. Similarly, for a liquid bearing pipeline, pumps may be used to introduce and maintain pressure for a liquid substance transported by the pipeline.
Running and maintaining a pipeline system can be expensive and complex, and the operations of a pipeline system are frequently coordinated and controlled from a central operations control center. At such a control center, an operator may monitor process data related to the operational state of the pipeline and each of its constituent elements using a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system. Other complex industrial systems and processes use a similar approach. For example, a petroleum refinery (at one end of a pipeline) may be monitored from a central control center using a real-time status database configured to receive data collected from the field devices of the refinery. Similarly, electrical generation facilities, chemical production or processing facilities, steel mills, manufacturing plants, assembly lines, etc., are frequently monitored using a centralized operations control center.
In addition to the complexity of these types of large industrial operations, an operator needs to monitor how much product is delivered to any given customer for purposes of billing. For example, a pipeline operator may have customers each with a distinct set of contractual requirements that affect how much the pipeline operator may charge, e.g., for minimum volume delivery, price points for different instantaneous flow rates, force majeure requirements, pass through requirements (what costs of production are passed on to the customer), and price adjustments, etc.